The Northwest Mississippi Community College football team fell 36-34 to Mississippi Gulf Coast on Thursday night at Bobby Franklin Field. The game was a rematch of last season’s MACCC Championship and featured a tightly contested battle with multiple lead changes and three ties, according to the schools.
Northwest drew first blood with a 43-yard field goal from freshman kicker Will Uselton after a 51-yard drive. Gulf Coast responded with a 41-yard field goal following a 52-yard drive. The teams traded touchdowns, with Northwest’s Neko Fann throwing a 15-yard pass to Jourdan Butler and Elijah Jones-Crosby answering with a 62-yard run for Gulf Coast. The first half ended with Gulf Coast holding a 20-17 lead after a missed extra point following a 17-yard touchdown run by Jailen Wheeler.
In the third quarter, Northwest took the lead when Fann scored on an 18-yard quarterback keeper. Gulf Coast regained the lead late in the game with a 17-yard touchdown from Jailen Wheeler and a 66-yard scramble by Josh Flowers, pushing the score to 33-24. Northwest responded with a 14-yard field goal and later a late touchdown pass from Noah Gillon to Clydarrien Peters, but it wasn’t enough. Gulf Coast sealed the win with a late field goal and an interception that set up the game-winning drive.
Both quarterbacks threw for over 100 yards, with Fann completing 14 of 27 passes for 192 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Gillon went 10 of 19 for 110 yards, also with one touchdown and one interception. The game featured balanced rushing, with Damon Sisa and Macaleb Taylor each carrying nine times for 50 and 30 yards, respectively. Sisa added a rushing touchdown.
Defensively, Kris Thompson led Northwest with seven tackles, and Jamarcus Flowers added six. The Rangers’ defense recorded 11 tackles for loss and one sack. Uselton went 2 for 2 on field goals and was perfect on extra points, while averaging 43.8 yards on six punts. Northwest will face Wesson on Sept. 10 in a rematch of last year’s MACCC semifinal, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. The game will be streamed at nwccrangers.com/watch.
